Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple

The Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple was founded in the 1890s by Dagdusheth Halwai, a Pune sweet-shop owner who had lost his only son to plague. The temple is named for him — 'Halwai' simply meaning sweet-maker — and has remained under the trusteeship of his descendants and the local community ever since. The central Ganesh idol is striking: a 1.5-tonne Ganesh figure, 7.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, decorated with 8 kg of gold ornaments donated by devotees over the decades. The idol is replaced once every few years through a ceremonial process. The temple is best known for its participation in the Pune Ganesh Festival — a tradition started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893 as a public-mobilising counterweight to British colonial rule. During the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi (August/September), the Dagdusheth temple is the third-most-visited mandap in Pune (after Manache Ganpati and Tulsibaug). Visitors of all faiths welcome. Photography permitted in the outer hall, prohibited in the inner sanctum. Allow extra time during Ganesh Chaturthi — queues can run 4 hours.